Review of Bicentennial Man (1999) by Dan R — 23 Aug 2009

?I have always tried to make sense of things. There must be some reason I am as I am.?

(Andrew Martin).

This one might well be my favorite in the long line of Pinocchio themes robot stories. Andrew, is a servant android in the Martin family home. He somehow has been endowed with a uniquely human-like spirit (or mind if you prefer). In time he finds that he (like most humans) wants to know that he is, or at least can become part of something more. He wants to be part of something greater than he can be by himself. As he puts it near the end of the film, he wants?

To be acknowledged for who and what I am.

No more, No less.

Not for acclaim, Not for approval.

The simple truth of that recognition,.

This has been the elemental drive of my existence,.

And it must be achieved,.

If I am to live, or die, with dignity.

Bicentennial Man is a beautifully crafted parable of how each one of us desires to simply be acknowledged for who and what we are. To be respected as an equal, regardless of how different we might be, and without concern for what we can or cannot do. Deep down in our souls, we all long to be accepted as an individual part of a greater whole.